The Irish Traditional Music Archive salutes Olympic Irish boxing finalist, Katie Taylor with a traditional Irish song about another female prize fighter, Jane Murphy. This 19th century ballad was unearthed by Dublin singer Barry Gleeson and appears on his 2005 CD I heard a bird sing at dawn. He is joined by ITMA's Grace Toland in this blow-by-blow account of a great victory for Jane from Ireland against her German opponent on 'Columbia's shore'. Let's hope Katie will be wearing "her female champion's belt clasped round her jacket green" at 5pm today!

Good luck to them. I must say it is beyond me why women have felt the need to emulate dumb men in taking up a "sport" whose sole aim is to hit someone and whose long term outcome is likely to be brain damage. john